Special Ed Business A Latte Fun
When Lake City High recently needed teaching help, Hayden Lake Elementary Principal Kathleen Kuntz eagerly volunteered to pitch in for a few hours. Where else could she get espresso delivered to her classroom?
“What a nice little perk,” she says now, savoring the memory. But she worries that Lake City’s espresso operation may woo away some of her staff next year.
She’s wise to worry. T-Wolf Espresso is so popular that kids and teachers hang out in the special education room where the business was born last month.
“People who have never walked into a special ed room come in daily now for espresso,” says Andy Covington, the teacher behind the espresso business. “Students who usually wouldn’t socialize with our kids talk to them, give them tips. It’s really nice.”
The rush at T-Wolf Espresso starts at 7:30 a.m. Skinny vanilla. Mocha with extra whipped cream. Double hazelnut. The Pepsi machines down the hall offer more caffeine, but no comforting warmth.
“I got up late. I have to take a writing test. I need this,” says junior Nikki Eads, clutching her cup as if it contains all the answers to her test.
Andy’s students pour syrups, steam milk and coffee, stamp cards, take money, order ingredients, deliver throughout school and manage the business. She’s pushed for the espresso bar since 1982 when lattes weren’t known much beyond Seattle.
“We want them to learn money skills and to socialize and communicate, follow directions, problem-solve and be part of a team,” she says. “This is a much better way of teaching than worksheets.”
The school didn’t have $10,000 for espresso equipment, so Andy started with cookie sales. Then her students sold wood cut-outs. Last year, Andy found an espresso machine for $3,800. An optimistic friend lent her the money.
“This is a lot better than the other jobs we’ve done. It’s actually pretty fun,” says Chanin Martin, a sophomore who keeps track of supplies.
Andy figures the $70 the stand makes each day will pay off the loan in a few months and keep the business stocked.
“I love seeing these kids feeling successful,” she says. “It’s great experience for them.”
Waste not, want not
Jill Bowes wanted a job done so she went to the kids - and they didn’t let Kootenai County’s recycling czar(ina) down. They flooded her with 210 posters to illustrate this spring’s recycling drive in the schools.
Post Falls seventh-grader Holly Nesbitt won with her sunflower with the earth as its center. Paige Bristol, a Ramsey Elementary second-grader, drew a box with recyclables springing into it for second place.
Both girls earned T-shirts emblazoned with their designs and money for their classes, proving it pays to recycle.
Remember winter?
Frigid temperatures are nothing to Coeur d’Alene’s Mary Jane Tranfo, who came here from Alaska. When the snow flew, she took her kids sledding on Cherry Hill, then to City Park for a wiener roast. They slurped hot chocolate and fed leftover buns to the ducks while people skied by and stared. Bet those skiers wished they’d remembered the wienies…
Sun worshipers
Snow still covered the Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Club’s fairways last week, but that didn’t stop a pair of stalwart golfers. The sun was shining and the golf balls were flying. They probably didn’t roll much, though.
What did you hurry to do before the snow flies again? Wash your car? Reveal your impatience for spring to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; FAX to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo